{{Neelecbanner12}}{{NeUSsen2012toc}}Voters in [[Nebraska]] '''elected one member to the [[U.S. Senate elections, 2012|U.S. Senate]]''' in the [[United States Congress elections, 2012|November 6, 2012 elections]]. Former Democratic Governor and U.S. Senator [[Bob Kerrey]] squared off against Republican state Senator [[Deb Fischer]] and independent candidate [[Russell Anderson]]. [[Deb Fischer]] won the election.<ref>[http://www.politico.com/2012-election/map/#/House/2012/ ''Politico'', "2012 House Race Results"]</ref>

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{{Neelecbanner12}}{{NeUSsen2012toc}}Voters in [[Nebraska]] '''elected one member to the [[U.S. Senate elections, 2012|U.S. Senate]]''' in the [[United States Congress elections, 2012|November 6, 2012 elections]]. Former Democratic Governor and U.S. Senator [[Bob Kerrey]] squared off against Republican state Senator [[Deb Fischer]] and independent candidate [[Russell Anderson]]. [[Deb Fischer]] won the election.<ref>[http://www.politico.com/2012-election/map/#/House/2012/ ''Politico'', "2012 House Race Results," November 6, 2012]</ref>

Primary: Nebraska has a closed primary system, in which the selection of a party's candidates in an election is limited to registered party members.

Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by February 10, 2012 by mail or February 17, 2012 in-person. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 19, 2012 by mail or October 26, 2012 in-person.[2]

Incumbent: The election filled the Class 1 Senate seat, which was held by Ben Nelson (D). First elected in 2000, Nelson did not run for re-election in 2012.[3]

Candidates

Note: Election results were added on election night as races were called. Vote totals were added after official election results had been certified. For more information about Ballotpedia's election coverage plan, click here. If you find any errors in this list, please email: Geoff Pallay.

Democratic Primary

Race background

Personal finances

Media reports in January 2012 regarding two candidates in the Republican primary -- Don Stenberg and Jon Bruning -- centered around their personal finances. Stenberg criticized Bruning for becoming wealthy while in office as attorney general. Reports indicated that Stenberg -- the Nebraska state Treasurer -- was also a millionaire, but he said he earned his money in the private sector before taking office.[12]

Ballot Issues

In late March, the Nebraska Supreme Court dismissed the Republican Party's case to remove Senate contender Bob Kerrey (D) from the May 15, 2012 primary election ballot, paving the way for a big-money, high-stakes battle that could have conceivably altered the balance of power in Washington.[13]

State Republicans asked the courts to overturn Gale's decision, claiming that Kerrey had resorted to the "New York-style political trick" of filing at the eleventh hour to avoid scrutiny from election officials, but the judges ruled that they had no authority to grant relief.[13]

The Nebraska Supreme Court upheld District Court Judge Steven Burns' decision that there was "no evidence to suggest that Mr. Kerrey knowingly and willfully violated any laws of the state of Nebraska."[13]

Outside spending

Outside groups spent more than $2 million on advertising prior to the primary, with more than $1 million going into attack ads against Jon Bruning.[14]

Polls

Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.